Combined handbag and key holder



1942. N. SLOANE EI'AL 2,272,854

- COMBINED HANDBAG AND KEY HOLDER Filed Dec. 19, 1940 Patented Feb. 19, 1%42 UNH'E'ED STATES E A EENT QEFEQE COMBINED HANDBAG AND KEY HOLDER Nathan Sloane and Max Sloane, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application December 19, 1946, Serial No. 378,826

6 Claims.

This invention relates to devices such as ladies handbags and to article or key holders for association therewith.

One object of the invention is to provide a ladys handbag having improved means for removably mounting therein articles such as keys.

We perceived that the house keys are generally dropped into the handbag and find their way to the extreme bottom where they are concealed and covered by numerous miscellaneous articles carried in the handbag. When a woman wants the keys, she must search for them, and finally removes them together with other articles which may have become entangled with the key chain and must be removed therefrom. All this has been a source of considerable annoyance and loss of time. Although the art has diligently at-- tempted to improve a ladys handbag in every possible way, no satisfactory solution for the key problem was found, and hence a meticulous type of woman had to place the keys within a purse and therefore had to open the handbag, and then the purse. Since the latter often contained miscellanies, this arrangement was at best a makeshift.

Accordingly it is an object of the invention to avoid these difiiculties and to provide a neat, simple, compact and inexpensive device, which shall not catch on miscellaneous articles in the handbag nor accidentally cut the fingers of the user, and which shall at all times be readily available without obstructing the interior of the handbag.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of the nature set forth having improved means whereby the means supporting the keys or similar articles shall normally lie vertical or nearly so or in such relation as to pre vent accidental detachment of the keys within the handbag.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the specification proceeds,

, With the aforesaid objects in view, the invention consists in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described in their preferred embodiments, pointed out in the subjoined claims, and illustrated in they annexed drawing, wherein like parts are designated by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view in fully open posi- Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view'in inside or front elevation showing a device embodying the invention.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View on the line 4-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the hook member for the key chain.

Fig. 6 is a view of a conventional unit comprising a chain and one or more keys thereon Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in elevation showing a modification of the invention.

The advantages of the invention as here outlined are best realized when all of its features and instrumentalities are combined in one and the same structure, but, useful devices may be produced embodying less than the whole.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, that the same may be incorporated in several different constructions. The accompanying drawing, therefore, is submitted merely as showing the preferred exemplification of the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, ill denotes a device such as a ladys handbag embodying the invention. The same may include any body such as H, preferably of the type whose upper section is split for full expansion to the open position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Desirably a frame for the bag body may be provided, comprising a pair of like inverted generally U-shaped frame mem-- bers I2, whose arms 13 are hingedly interconnected for relative angular movement of side and end wall sections of the bag body in opening and closing the handbag. The hinge connection may include a hollow rivet M passing through alined ears ll: of the'frame arms 13, and being headed over at the ends. Into this hollow rivet is suitably secured, as by a thread or press fit, a carrier or pin l6 adapted to suspend a support or hook means ll.

The hook means ll may include a one-piece member having a rear wall portion 18 and an upwardly bent tongue i9 that may form a narrow mouth 29. If desired, the tongue it may resilient- 1y close the mouth Zil, but preferably the latter is suficiently open to readily instantly engage a ring or chain element 23 carrying a plurality of keys or similar articles 2i.

Formed on the upper end of the wall portion i8 is an ear extension 22 that is perforated as at 23 to freely rotatably receive the pin it and to be retained by the head of the latter. Adjointion showing a device embodying the invention. ing the ear 22 is a stop means which may include one or more projecting elements such as 24 engageable with the frame arms I3. It is noted that the stop elements 2t project laterally at a side opposite to that of the tongue 19 to lie in the path of the frame arms l3, whereby rotation of the device I! about the pin 16 is prevented. It is further perceived that the stop elements 2 lie below the ear 22, and that the mouth 20 is closely adjacent thereto, and that the tongue l9 need not project above the pin l so that the frame of the handbag is wholly smooth and free of upper projections when opened up as in Fig. 2.

In fact, the stop elements 24 may also be disposed to limit the opening of the handbag to a suitable extent, which may be about 120 degrees. This is all the amount of opening that is normally necessary, and frequently it is a source of annoyance that the handbag virtually seems to collapse because the handbag opens up 180 degrees or more. Although the frame members 12 are formed of thin bendable metal the device ll afiords a particularly strong and inexpensive stop means for the frame members, and the strength of the entire channel structure of the latter is available against the stop means. Of course, the stop elements 24 may be constructed at different angles to each other as may be desired.

The operation of the device will now be briefly described. The owner of the handbag takes the usual key chain 25 and slips it into the hook ll of the open handbag, whereby the keys 2| are suspended vertically. Preferably the lengths of the hook and chain are such that the keys lie above the extreme bottom of the bag as shown in Fig. 2. Since the hook l! is pivotally supported on the pin IE, it will not be moved from its vertical position by relative angular movement of the frame members [2. Consequently the chain will not become accidentally detached from the hook ll even if the mouth 20 is quite large for instant reception and removal of the chain. While the handbag is open and the owner is moving her hand around searching for an article, she might accidentally swing the hook and cause detachment of the chain 28; but this result is prevented by the stop means 24, which would strike one of the adjacent frame arms l3 and limit such swinging movement. By a correlated action, the stop means 26 also limit the degree of opening of the handbag to a feasible extent.

In Fig. '7 is shown a modified device which may function for the same purpose as the device I'I, except that it affords a positive automatic stop and lock operative upon closing the handbag. Thus it may include a hook 26 journaled on the pin, and having stops 24a like those at 24 and operating in the same manner. The hook 26 may, however, include a tongue 2'] twisted at 28 to lie at right angles to the main part of the hook and projecting outward to lie between and in the path of the frame arms l3 as shown. Hence when the handbag is closed, the tongue 21 is locked between the arms !3 thus closing the mouth of the hook and affording a stop for the latter. Because the tongue 2'! is thin, it will not interfere with the tight closing of the bag. When the bag is open, the weight of the keys will keep the hook vertical, so that the stop elements 24a may be omitted because of the angle of the tongue portion 21. However, the stop elements 24a will prevent accidental tilting when the bag is open and will assure that the hook is upright so that its mouth shall be unobstructed. The portion 21 may be quite closely adjacent to the pin I6.

We claim:

1. In a ladys handbag having a plurality of hingedly interconnected inverted generally U- shaped frame members, the combination of a hollow rivet forming a pintle for the hinge connection, a pin secured within said rivet, a hook having a hole receiving the pin for freely pivotally supporting the hook, said hook lying between the arms of a frame member and being adapted to removably engage a key chain, and a stop means connected to the hook and located below said pin and projecting in the same direction therewith, the stop means being adapted to engage the frame members to prevent the hook from swinging in a circle about the pin so that the key chain shall be maintained in engagement with the hook with the key chain depending therefrom within the handbag.

2. In a ladys handbag having a plurality of hingedly interconnected inverted generally U- shaped frame members, the combination of a hook adapted to lie within the handbag and adapted to suspend an article within the handbag, means for pivotally suspending the hook from the frame members at the region of the hinge connection of the latter, stop means connected to the hook adjacent to said means, and frame member arms, the stop means being adapted to underlie the said arms to limit the pivotal movement of the hook while permitting the latter to hang vertically in different positions of the arms relative to each other.

3. A device including an article suspending hook for connection to the inverted U-shaped frame members of a handbag at the hinge connection thereof, said hook having an upper portion for the pivotal suspension of th hook, and a stop means connected to the hook below the said portion, said stop means projecting laterally from a face of the hook so as to be adapted to engage the underside of adjacent arms of the frame members to limit swinging movement of the hook about its axis of suspension.

4. In a ladys handbag, the combination with frame portions movable toward and away from each other for closing and opening the handbag, an article supporting hook, means pivotally mounting the hook on one of the frame portions and means connected to the hook and engageable between the frame portions when the handba is closed, the last mentioned means affording an entrance to the mouth of the hook which is thus closed by the frame portions when the handbag is closed, the pivotal movement of the hook permitting said last mentioned means to be moved away from adjacent frame arms for opening said hook mouth when the handbag is opened.

5. In a ladys handbag adapted to support a plurality of keys in out-of-the-way position when th handbag is only partially opened and close ing engaged with the frame adjacent to the hinge connection so that the key hook is relatively raised according to the degree to which the handbag is opened by swinging apart of the frame members, with th key hook being adjacent to the bottom of the handbag when the latter is closed and with the opening in the key hook being closely adjacent to the mouth of the handbag when the latter is fully opened, said key hook having arms confronting each other, one of said arms having an integral top eye portion, and a pivot pin extending through said eye portion and extending into a portion of the frame in parallel relation to the axis of the hinge connection, with the key hook being swingable along a plane parallel to the key receiving space between said arms.

6. In a ladys handbag adapted to support a plurality of keys in out-of-the-way position when the handbag is only partially opened and close to the mouth of the handbag when the latter is substantially fully opened, a handbag having a frame comprising a plurality of inverted U- shaped frame members hingedly interconnected at the lower ends of the arms thereof, a key hook adapted to releasably engage in the openings of a plurality of keys for supporting the same, and means for pivotally mounting the key hook so that the latter gravitationally assumes an upright position with the opening in the key hook being adjacent to the top thereof, said means being engaged with the frame adjacent to the hinge connection so that the key hook is relatively raised according to the degree to which the handbag is opened by swinging apart of the frame members, with the key hook being adjacent to the bottom of the handbag when the latter is closed and with the opening in the key hook being closely adjacent to the mouth of the handbag when the latter is fully opened, said pivotal mounting means comprising an ear, and a pivot pin coaxially engaged with a hinge connection at one end of the frame, said key hook having a key receiving space in a plane at right angles to the axis of said pin. 

